“What the Heck Is That?” — Dad Buys Son Temu Lego Set for Christmas, Records His Reaction

Temu isn't a brand name that's necessarily associated with quality. While there are manufacturers that offer goods on the online retail site that aren't absolute trash, there are clear fails. Some of which have been documented online — like this woman who tried turning a family picture in a banner.

Or another person who thought the site's croissant lamps were cute, only to discover that whoever was selling them on Temu was using actual croissants to make them.

And if you're planning on buying branded merchandise from the website at what you think is a too-good-to-be-true price then be forewarned. Because things that seem too good to be true usually are.

Even when it comes to cheaply produced goods, the cost of some of the items on Temu's website is so low it'll probably have you thinking that there's no way anyone is making a profit off these sales.

Despite these controversies, folks are still purchasing goods from the Chinese label. And they're still documenting the fails accompanying these orders.

Like this Simpsons Lego set a TikToker named Jeff (@jeffdsilva) bought for his son from Temu.

After receiving the toy in the mail and cracking open the box he was met with a hilariously blatant imitation of Matt Groening's character.

In true cheap imitation fashion, the packaging was rife with misspellings and "almost there" design cues that culminated in a hilarious comedy of toy errors.

Jeff writes in a text overlay of his video: "POV: you bought your son a Simpsons Lego set from Temu." A young boy in his pajamas can be seen kneeling on the floor, looking over the gift he just received.

"What the heck is that?" the child asks as dad records the instructions that came with the gift. In the show's trademark yellow font, a slight variation of the Simpsons last name is presented, and dad reads it out.

"The Stantons," he says, deadpan. The Homer mini figure is called "Hober" and there's a red shirted, spiky-haired rapscallion that is a dead ringer for Bart. His name is just a rearrangement of the OG character's letters: "Trab."

"I don't know," the young child can be heard saying off camera as Jeff reads out the names and then surveys all of the pieces lying on the carpet of his home.

So why would someone get a Simpsons set off of a site like Temu? Well, that's because original Lego sets, especially those that are limited runs, cost a lot of money.

For instance, the full Simpsons house Lego set retails on Amazon for a whopping $779. That's more than the cost of a decently sized television, a Playstation 5, or a well-specc'd smartphone.

On Ali Express, you can get imitation versions of the Kwik-E-Mart and Simpsons house, with a ton of accessory pieces, for $73.16.

YouTuber Boba's Lego World did a review of a Lego Simpsons house that Temu sells and if you ignore the glaring spelling errors in the set's accompanying manual, you'd probably be hard-pressed to find an aesthetic difference between the two.

One of the biggest concerns when you're buying a dupe product is quality — how do they stack up to the original? Lego pieces are notoriously durable. Just step on one in the middle of the night and you'll realize just how formidable they can be.

According to some plastic toy brick enthusiasts over on Reddit's r/Lego sub, these imitation sets are darn close, if not identical in terms of quality, to their original counterparts.

One person penned: "Knockoffs for sure/different packaging but the sets are identical. Better to spend $15 on a set than $65 or $40 than $150 on an “official” one. Entirely up to the individual."

Someone else echoed the aforementioned sentiment, voicing praise for Temu Lego offerings. "The quality is actually quite good, and the bricks are very much compatible with Lego. They have no issue snapping onto Lego bricks and keeping there hold to one another. The bricks had no discolouration, or mold lines or any faults from what I observed. All in all the product was on par to that of what you would come to expect from buying a legitimate Lego set."

So how would you feel about buying a Lego set from Temu? Maybe there's a discontinued one you've been wanting to get your hands on, but don't feel like dropping a monthly car + insurance payment on?